User blog:SilentShadow87/May 11 - The Darkest Day
On this day in history, not one, but two F5-rated tornadoes cut through two Texas cities, leaving complete devastation and very high death tolls in their paths. One of these tornadoes ties as the deadliest in Texas state history, destroying over a third of the city of Waco, while the other was arguably one of the most violent in Texas, tearing through Lubbock exactly 17 years later. Below I'll compare the two tornadoes, and do my own crude assessment of their strength based on today's rating standards. The Waco, Texas F5 - May 11, 1953 Monday, May 11, 1953 dawned humid and sunny over the city of Waco. To the south, outflow boundaries from a few scattered thunderstorms from the previous night were developing, and by early afternoon, a dry line was established through a warm sector extending through west-central Texas. The first supercells had developed by 2:00 PM CDT, and began producing brief "funnels" across Texas and Oklahoma. One F1-rated tornado caused minor tree damage near McAlister, Oklahoma at around 3:00 PM. A tornado alert (a predecessor to a tornado watch used from the 1940s to the early 1970s) had been issued for East and Central Texas in the early morning hours, but even as a powerful supercell approached Waco itself, no tornado warning was ever issued. The streets of Waco remained busy as people began to commute home from work and shoppers flocked to stores. Official sources say the Waco tornado first touched down at 4:15 PM; but eyewitness reports suggest that the tornado may have touched down as a weak, wispy funnel several minutes earlier, at around 4:08 to 4:10 PM. As the parent supercell passed over the city, the late afternoon sky darkened to an almost pure blackness. Hail up to four inches across and sheets of torrential rain suddenly began to pelt down on the city as the tornado approached, sending thousands of people scrambling for shelter. The tornado itself had grown to a large cone-shaped funnel, around 300 yards wide, but soon became almost invisible behind thick curtains of rain and hail, instead appearing as an "impenetrable darkness" or a "black fog" according to witnesses. Several houses and other small buildings on the outskirts of the city were demolished before the tornado thundered through the center of the city at 4:36 PM while at the same time becoming violent. The five-story R.T. Dennis furniture shop completely collapsed into a pile of rubble, crushing dozens of people to death. Conservative reports put the death toll in the R.T. Dennis building at 22; some sources have reported 30 or more deaths. Across the road, a large fitness center was flattened, killing 17 people inside. Drivers trapped in rush hour traffic were completely helpless against the violent tornado. Some left their cars to find shelter inside buildings, but others were caught off guard. Cars were lifted from the roads and tossed through the walls and roofs of buildings, while others were buried beneath avalanches of debris from collapsing buildings. A total of 10 people were killed in the open, all in cars crushed or buried under debris or other vehicles. One woman narrowly survived the tornado as her car was flipped and pinned beneath a larger truck; forming a shelter of twisted metal around her. Nearby, a ten-story skyscraper nearby sustained borderline EF5 damage even under the stricter rating standards on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with its roof completely removed and interior walls on the upper floors demolished. The tornado continued for several miles to the east of downtown Waco while beginning to weaken. Houses in suburban areas were demolished at F3 to F4 strength, and tree damage continued over rural areas before the tornado dissipated at around 4:40 PM. The tornado caused 114 deaths and 597 injuries, making it one of the two deadliest tornadoes in Texas state history along with the 1902 Goliad, Texas tornado, which also killed 114. An equally deadly tornado would cut through Flint, Michigan, just three weeks later, killing 116 people. Most of the deaths from the tornado were in the space of one city block, which normally suggests extreme intensity. The tornado left a path of extreme devastation. Flattened buildings and tossed cars made the city streets nearly impossible to move to. Some streets were "flooded" with piles of bricks five to eight feet deep, and many survivors were buried beneath debris for as much as 18 hours before being rescued. Although the Waco tornado was violent, none of the damage photos or official surveys suggest clear F5 level damage. Most of the obliterated buildings were old and not steel-reinforced, while newer buildings with support beams remained standing with more minor (but still severe in some cases) damage. Houses outside of downtown Waco were completely flattened, according to reports. Unfortunately, almost no photos exist of damage outside of the downtown area. If it had touched down in the 21st century, the Waco tornado would almost certainly not have been rated EF5. Path length: '''20.9 miles '''Path width: '''Average 300-400 yards, max. about 600 yards '''Fatality to injury rate: '''19% (114 fatalities, 597 injuries) '''Greatest Damage: '''R.T. Dennis building; 5-story mid-rise building completely demolished '''Estimated EF Rating: '''EF4 (180-185 mph) '''The Lubbock, Texas F5 - May 11, 1970 Much like the same day 17 years earlier, Wednesday, May 11, 1970 began with clear, humid conditions across the Texas Panhandle. A thin layer of stratus clouds developed in the early morning but had dissipated by 9:30 AM. By 10:00 AM, a weather advisory noting the possibility of severe thunderstorms later in the afternoon was issued, and by 1:25 PM, a severe thunderstorm watch had been issued for the Texas Panhandle and sections of northwestern Texas including Lubbock County.